Summary. Pilgrimage began after Chad’s burial in 672 and continued until Reformation. It restarted in 1860 and is now integral to the cathedral.
How pilgrimage became the spirit defining the cathedral.
Pilgrims came to the cathedral-church
when they heard of the miracle of a young man described as having some mental
illness, freneticus, who lay down by Chad’s grave, 672 or later, and fell
asleep. In the morning, he was healthy, sanato sensu.[1] The
miracle published in Bede’s book, 731, parallels Cuthbert’s sainthood.[2]
“A madman, who had been wandering from
one place to another, came there one evening, unknown to or unregarded by the
guardians of the church, and spent the whole night there. The next morning, he
came out in his right mind and, to the amazement and joy of all.” [3]
.jpg)
AI rendition of a young man sleeping by Ceadda’s grave and
the early church of St Mary’s.
Bede also described ‘those who visit out of devotion’
Chad’s grave site. They were able to insert their hands through an aperture in
‘the little wooden house’ over Chad’s grave and presumably protecting a
container holding his relics. The pilgrim would obtain soil or sand, Bede uses
the term pulveris, from the grave to take away (from the foramina
shrine). They mixed the pulveris with water and either drank the
infusion if they were ailing or gave it to their unwell cattle. It indicates pilgrimage
started soon after Chad’s burial. The common belief was that being close to a
saint and their relics invited miracles and this continued for the next 800
years until Reformation, 1534.
AI first pilgrims to visit Ceadda's grave by St Mary's chapel
If Bishop Headda of Lichfield under the guidance of
Bishop Wilfrid of the Middle Angles, and under the patronage of Kings Wulfhere
and Æthelred,
laid out a mynster as a ‘sacred landscape’ early in the 8th-century, then
pilgrimage was enhanced.[4]
Visitors would be reminded they were at a site like Jerusalem with buildings arranged
along a particular numinous path. They would visit first the main church, St
Peters, with St Chad’s gospels on the altar, thought to be around 720–740, then
a middle area with a cross and perhaps a holy well and finally a shrine tower containing
Chad’s grave. The cemetery church of St Mary was close-by. Likewise, in
Jerusalem the pilgrim would move from the basilica church built by Constantine
to the rock of Calvary and the cross and finally to the Holy Sepulchre. The
chapel for St Mary was close-by. Pilgrimage was a journey and travelling across
a sacred landscape facilitated the spiritual experience.
.jpg)
Imagined monasterium at Lichfield as a Sacred Landscape. The layout has resemblances to sacred landscapes at Iona, possibly Lindisfarne and many early church sites in Europe.
Early Mercian kings linked with Lichfield were prone
to go on journeys like pilgrimages. King Æthelred, reigning 675–704,
abdicated to become a monk at Bardney, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire. King
Coenred, reigning 704–9, became a monk, travelled to Rome and stayed there
until his death in 716. King Æthelbald, reigning 716–757, visited and stayed with
Guthlac a hermit living in a simple barrow at Crowland in the East Anglian
Fens. Guthlac was a Mercian (royal?) nobleman, warrior and a convert to
monasticism. Æthelbald had dreams or visions in which Guthlac spoke to him.
Roundel from The Guthlac Roll showing King Æthelstan kneeling at Guthlac’s tomb
with his ghost looking on. Two accomplices are asleep.
Offa, reigning 757–796, could have built the second
cathedral and would have valued the site and Chad. He might have arranged a new
shrine chest over the grave with the left end showing the ‘Lichfield Angel’.[5]
The elaborate detail must have been added to impress pilgrims. Offa funded the Schola
Saxonum in Rome which later became a hostelry for English pilgrims. King
Edgar the Peaceful, reigning 959–975, encouraged the collection of relics and
might have spurred the building of a reliquary chapel to house them in
readiness for the possible end-time of the millennium. The return of the St
Chad’s gospels and obtaining the relics of Cedd, Chad’s older brother, might be
part of this story.[6]
It is clear pilgrimage was a significant event for kings and priests in the
first millennium.
The Norman conquest saw Lanfranc, an Italian lawyer
given the high post of archbishop by William I. He was critical at first towards
indigenous cults, especially if Early Medieval, though in time he changed and
reinstated relics for pilgrimage. The downgraded cathedral at Lichfield appeared
to avoid this early iconoclasm with the five canons maintaining some sort of shrine
to Chad and having the church in the Domesday Book known as St Chad. It is
unclear whether pilgrimage continued in this time. If it did, it would most
likely have been local to the diocese.
It is thought a chapel built to securely
house Chad’s relics was added on the south side of the choir, c. 1230, during
the construction of the current cathedral.[7]
By now the relics were split up as done elsewhere. Pilgrims arrived at the
south transept door[8]
and were escorted to the chapel, now St Chad’s Head Chapel, where they could
get close to Chad’s skull kept in a painted wooden box on the altar. If unwell,
they would be touched by a right arm bone reliquary. The relics were used in
processions, especially on St Chad’s Day, 2 March. How the upper chapel was
accessed is unknown because the current stairs are thought to have been added
later.[9]
Rodwell thought there might have been a holy well in the corner of the lower chapel.
There is an unverified, and probably unlikely, story of a priest holding Chad’s
skull, now lined in gold, over the balcony to show pilgrims in the aisle below.
Re-enactment holding a skull over the balcony of the St Chad’s Head Chapel to pilgrims and penitents below.
The Sacrists Roll, [10]
1345 or 6,[11]
listed ten coffers each containing the relics of other saints. The bones of St
Laurence, St William, St Helen, St James, St Barbara, St Blaze, St Symeon and
St Stephen, the dust of St Amphibalus, a relic of St Wulfad (a legendary
7th-century Christian martyr from the royal family of Mercia), part of the
hair shirt of St Cuthbert and much more were recorded. Some of the
artefacts, there were over 300 listed, were worn, or touched by saints. The
large archive of venerated objects shows widespread interest and the deep
interest in relics. Many could have been the centrepiece of around 14 chapels
set around the cathedral in the 13th and 14th-centuries.
Bishop Langton’s sumptuous
shrine,[12]
c. 1307–8, was placed somewhere in the retrochoir and eventually faced
his Lady Chapel,[13]
built c. 1315–1336. It must have confirmed Chad as a major British
Saint. Lepine thought it changed Chad from being essentially a local, diocesan
saint to one observed across the whole province of Canterbury.[14]
The shrine must have been similar in construction, and even more splendid, as
that at Canterbury for Thomas Becket.
Recreated Chad’s shrine much based on Becket’s shrine. If similar, pulleys lifted a wooden chest canopy upwards to expose the casket on an elaborate plinth. It was decorated with 6 rubies, 5 sapphires, 15 large emeralds, 16 pearls and many small stones. Some jewels were set in an image of Chad. It is unclear which relics were kept in the casket, and which were still in St Chad’s Head Chapel. Pilgrims would have left many valuable offerings around the shrine, such as rings, brooches and necklaces. Permission for the image was given from The Centre for the study of Christianity and Culture, University of York, 2018.
Another AI rendition of how Chad's shrine might have appeared around 1360. The hood arrangement is based on Becket's earlier shrine at Canterbury. The model church is assumed to be like the medieval cathedral, Whatever was present must have been sumptuous and impressive. A good reason to attract visitors,
The pilgrimage journey in Lichfield
Pilgrims arriving at Lichfield by road had to pass
through a town gate with each gate displaying a cross. At the Culstubbe Street
gate (St John’s Street) stood two crosses known as Bishop Durdent and Bishop
Pucelle.
AI generated 14th century pilgrim
Farewell to Lichfield pathway, originally Cross-of-the-Hand, then Cross and Hand and now Cross in Hand Lane. The name is thought to come from pilgrims, carrying a cross in their hand, wanting sanctuary at the Benedictine priory. It may have come from where a procession started on 8 September taking a perambulation of the city boundary for 16 miles. Another explanation is parishioners from Longdon raised a cross when they saw the cathedral on their procession to Lichfield. An ancient cross stood at the city boundary.
Location of gates (red) in 1350 according to H. Thorpe,
(1954).13
Anyone, arriving at the town gate after it was shut
for the day, from the year 1135, could stay at St John the Baptist without the
Barrs, a priory providing hospitality for men. Otherwise, they would stay at
one of the many hostelries in the town. In 2015, part of the grounds of the
priory was redeveloped and archaeologists found a cemetery with around fifty
burials. Many pilgrims came to Lichfield to be healed, so it is possible some
of these burials were those who died on their journey.
St Johns Priory from Stebbing Shaw late 18th-century
AI enhance drawing of St John's hospital John Buckler
St Johns Priory from H. Snowden Ward, 1892.[15]
It is likely many pilgrims
removed their shoes at the town gate and walked the last mile barefooted. Town
records show a ferry carried pilgrims across the middle of Minster Pool from
Wroo Lane (later Cock Lane) which ran parallel with Bird Street, but behind the
George Inn.[16]
A path from Sadler Street to Minster Pool ferry and a path on the opposite bank
to the cathedral was said to be shown on John Snape’s map of 1781.[17]
John Leland, 1744 described the Close, its old walls and gates, but strangely
did not mention a ‘pilgrim’s gate’. The ferry operated before the stone causeway joined Bacon, later
Bird Street with Beacon Street built by Bishop Langton around 1310, and
continued for some time after the causeway was in use.
Pilgrim’s way as shown on John Snape map of 1781 and also by H. Thorpe (1954)[18]. Cock is Old English for a small boat.
A ferry midway across Minster
Pool would fit the notion of pilgrims arriving at the south transept door and
being under some kind of supervision. Having disembarked on the north side of
the pool, the pilgrims would have had to walk through a doorway in the Old
Cantarist’s College (the chantry priest’s college) to a guesthouse[19]
(on the site of the college hall) where they would presumably be welcomed.
Old Cantarist’s College with the Pilgrim’s Path through the doorway.
At many medieval monasteries and some shrines, pilgrims had to wash their feet before entering the building. Cleanliness was believed to enhance the spiritual experience and the sanctity of the place. So where in The Close could this have occurred? There are curious arcades on the outside west wall of the south transept, and it has been suggested it was there that pilgrims had their feet washed before entering the south transept door. This is speculative but accords with a washing ceremony undertaken near other shrines. It explains why foot washing in the vestibule on the north side came later and probably had a limited use.
AI sharpened engraving of the west wall of the south transept showing 12 blind arcades that might have been the seats for 12 pilgrims to have their feet washed. It was commonly done to walk the last mile of pilgrimage in bare feet; was this the distance from the town boundary? It would then be considered good Christian practice to wash away the past journey before entering a new one in the cathedral and passage to Chad's shrine. It is spiritual cleansing as well as physical washing.
After entering the south transept, they would see a
compendium of the history of the cathedral on wooden wall boards. They would
then be escorted to the chapels with the relics. They would return by the same
route.
AI gen. Pilgrims entering the south door
AI Pilgrims
having history explained from wooden tablets on west wall of the south transept.
Chad’s grave site and the original shrine from 672
In 2003, excavation of the east end of the
nave to install a ‘rising platform’ revealed 22 burials. One was an aged man, a
little twisted, with a leather belt and bag. He was crudely buried by being
laid on top of a board, possibly a coffin lid. On his pelvis and legs was a
tree branch around 3cm thick thought to have been his staff. By his right side
of his thigh was the remains of a large round bag. He was thought to have been
a pilgrim. The depth of burial suggested 15th-century. The burial was on top of
Chad’s grave, now filled in and having tiles placed across.
Pilgrim
and staff reconstructed.
Pilgrims,
penitents and the unwell
Pilgrims
left many objects at Chad’s shrine. The 1345 Sacrist’s Roll stated one clasp of
pure gold, and two gold rings were left by Thomas de Berkeley and his wife.
Others left gold coins or jewellery. There is evidence from other cathedrals
that the value of an offering was not as important as how it was given. A
halfpenny from a pauper was taken to be more pious than a shilling from a rich
man. Unwell pilgrims left wax models shaped like their infirmity, some left
special candles that had been close to their bodies. Those who were desperate
would want to touch the stone base and if ever allowed, sleep alongside the
shrine through the night. Penitents might have to visit the shrine several
times to complete repentance. Absolution of their sin could be quickened by
paying an indulgence. After leaving the cathedral a pilgrim might buy an
ampulla of holy water or a blessed pilgrim’s badge showing their saint. A poor
pilgrim might have needed alms and support from the Franciscan Friary. The
notion that pilgrimage paid the expenses of the cathedral is weak. With the
exception of Canterbury, cathedrals rarely received more than 10% of their
income from a shrine.[20] It
is not known if Lichfield was any different.
Ampullae. The lead containers, purchased outside of a cathedral, would contain supposed blessed water and be used to drink, be given to valued farm animals or sprinkled over a crop hoping for a good harvest. Many have been found on fields.
There is some evidence for
residents of the diocese had to provide an annual donation of money to fund the
cathedral, known as a mass membership fraternity. In 1322 it was described as
an ancient custom. The giving was called Chad farthings, and several medieval bishops
ruled it was necessary for the spiritual health of the people. The mass
membership could have numbered tens of thousands and there were collectors to
ensure the alms were paid. At the same time members were required to visit the
cathedral and venerate the relics annually. This suggests pilgrimage within the
diocese was important and frequent.
Dissolution and afterwards
Langton’s shrine was desecrated in
1538[21]
by Reformation Commissioners who came to stop pilgrimage and confiscate
valuables accrued from the practice. A canon in the cathedral secreted away (some?)
Chad’s relics.[22]
So how popular was pilgrimage up to termination of veneration of relics, saints
and pilgrimage? No cathedral records were kept of the numbers of pilgrims and
penitents, and no accounts have survived showing the income from pilgrimage and
the number of Masses said and prayers given. Even wills left to the cathedral was
unrecorded. In 1536, the royal commissioners calculated pilgrimage to Lichfield
was worth £400 each year.[23]
This amount is far higher than recorded for other pilgrimage centres and is
possibly inflated. From this Lepine thought the late medieval cult was
remarkably vigorous and retained significant popularity in the diocese right up
to Reformation.[24]
He cited the support given by Bishops Langton, Stretton and Heyworth.
What happened to pilgrimage between
Reformation and the Civil War, 1538–1643 is unclear. All relics were lost, no
building took place in Elizabeth’s reign, there was a national shortage of
clergy, conflicts arose over the book to be used in worship, the cathedral was
poor and heretics were burned in the market square.[25]
Violent factionalism wracked the church. Any pilgrimage must have been minimal and
secretive or non-existent. After the Civil War the interior of the cathedral
was in a poor state and Lonsdale[26]
recorded that up to the 1850’s Victorian restoration the nave, transepts and
choir aisles were limewashed, shabby and comparatively unused.[27]
He wrote pilgrimage started again in 1860. Restoration continued until the
start of the 20th-century so the number of visitors must have been small. Today
visitors are welcomed as pilgrims, penitents and refugees and arrive from all parts
of the world and it is now a significant part of the work of the cathedral.
If pilgrimage is measured by the
number of people visiting the cathedral, then because it started early, appears
to be continuous until the Reformation and then picks up again in the late 19th-century,
Lichfield has been a major pilgrimage centre.[28]
Today there are pilgrim pathways to the cathedral from Lindisfarne (475 miles,
called The Two Kingdoms Way), Chester cathedral (92 miles, called The Two
Saints Way), from Tatenhill, St Michael’s Church (14 miles, called The Pilgrim
Way Church Trail), from St Chad’s cathedral, Birmingham (18 miles, called St
Chad’s pilgrimage) from Shrewsbury (Chad to Chad Pilgrimage) from Repton and
from Stafford. Bishop Michael Ipgrave has promoted and participated in these
pilgrimages.
Postscript
Lichfield cathedral has been through dark times which have risked its existence; Viking desecration, Norman marginalisation, Reformation iconoclasm, three sieges in the Civil War and Bishop indifference. Like all cathedrals there was a distinct possibility of joining Coventry, Pershore, Chertsey, Bury St Edmunds, Hailes and the many monasteries and ending up as a ruin. Lichfield was a diminished cathedral for two centuries after the Civil War before being largely rebuilt by the Victorians. How did it survive? One good reason was its St Chad cult with its relics and pilgrimage. Veneration and pilgrimage defined the cathedral and sustained its significance and worth.[29]
[1]
See the post ‘Why Licitfelda was approved’.
[2]
Bishop Cuthbert was buried on the south side of the high altar of his cathedral
church of St Peter on Lindisfarne in 687. Miracles too occurred soon after his
death and it was recorded a demoniac boy was cured by earth from the place
where water had been poured after washing the saint’s body. See Bede’s Prose
Life of St Cuthbert, cap. 41; B. Colgrave, Two Lives of St Cuthbert, 288-91.
[3] J. McClure and R. Collins, ‘Bede. The Ecclesiastical
History of the English People’, (Oxford: 2008), 178. This is Bede’s, Historia
Ecclesiastica Book 4 Chapter 3. Bede listed this work as Historiam
ecclesiasticam nostræ insulæ ac gentis in libris V, which translates to, The
ecclesiastical history of our island and nation in five books.
[4] See the post ‘First cathedral, King Wulfhere’s’
[5] See the post ’Lichfield Angel.’
[6]
See the post ‘Bishop Langton’s shrine.’
[7]
See the post ‘Chad’s bone relics.’
[8]
See the post ‘South transept’.
[9]
W. Rodwell, ‘Archaeology at the cathedral: A new study of St Chad’s Head
Chapel’. Unpub. 48th annual report to the Friends held in Cathedral Library.
(1985), 1–5. Rodwell later surmised a wooden stairway was erected in the south
choir aisle.
[10]
J. C. Cox and W. H. S. J. Hope, ‘Sacrist's Roll of Lichfield Cathedral A.D.
1345’, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (1882), 4, 107–138.
[11]
The date of this Roll is uncertain. The
Roll is dated 21 May 1345, but someone has added a second date of 10 June 1346
[12]
See the post ‘Bishop Langton’s shrine’.
[13]
See the post ‘Lady Chapel’.
[14]
D. Lepine, ‘Glorius Confessor: The cult of St Chad at Lichfield Cathedral
during the Middle Ages’. SAHS transactions, (2021), 29.
[15]
H. Snowden Ward, ‘Lichfield and its cathedral. A brief history and guide’.
(Bradford and London: 1892), 17.
[16]
‘Collections for a history of Staffordshire, Volume 6, part 2’. The William
Salt Archaeological Society (London: 1886), 184 note. Early English
definition of Wroo is an isolated or remote place, an out-of-the-way spot; a
corner, or nook. A cock is a small boat so Cock Lane must be where to find a
small boat ferry.
[17]
H. E. Savage, Bishop John Burghull. (Lichfield: 1924), 19. Held in the Cathedral Library. The Snape map appears
to ambiguously show a ferry crossing.
[18]
H. Thorpe, ‘Lichfield: A study of its growth and
function,’ Historical Collections of Staffordshire, Third Series, 1950‑51. 1954,
137‑211.
[19]
H. E. Savage, The Lichfield Chronicles. (Lichfield 1915), 9. Held in the
Cathedral Library.
[20]
B. Nilson, Cathedral shrines of Medieval England, (Woodbridge: 1998),
182
[21]
Confiscation occurred over the next ten years.
[22]
See the post ‘Chad’s bone relics.’
[23]
Lepine (2021), 47. Also Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, 137.The usual
donation from a pilgrim was one penny. A simple calculation means £400 old
pounds is K96 pilgrims or 263 per day, which is absurdly high, but illustrates
the business of pilgrimage.
[24]
Ibid, 52.
[25]
See the post ‘Martyrs’.
[26]
J. G. Lonsdale, ‘Recollections of the work done and in upon Lichfield
Cathedral, 1856–1894’. (Lichfield: 1895), 1–38.
[27]
See the post ‘Victorian revival’.
[28]
See the online description, www.lichfield.anglican.org/our-faith/pilgrimage/
[29]
There are around 6000 pilgrimage sites
in Europe and in the five centuries of pilgrimage when it was considered to be
necessary for everyone, 11th to 16th centuries, it is thought it employed 1 in
5 people.